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Neutral Austrians with No Navy

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The Österreichisches Bundesheer (German for the "Austrian federal army") is the name of the Austrian Armed Forces, the military of Austria, a country in central Europe (not Australia, the country-continent).

Mission

The Austrian military has the following main tasks from its constitution:

to protect the constitutionally established institutions and the population's democratic freedoms

to maintain order and security inside the country

to render assistance in the case of natural catastrophes and disasters of exceptional magnitude

Here is a bit about the name of the military: The semi-regular military was called the Volkswehr, or "people's defence", from November 8, 1918 to 1921. From 1921 to 1938 and then from May 15, 1955 to the present, it has been called the Bundesheer.

What about from 1938 to 1955? Oh, Austria had the Anschluss, so it had the Wehrmachtto protect it. A lot of ex-Austrian soldiers wound up becoming famous (and in some cases, infamous) as German soldiers during World War 2. In 1945, the Allied countries occupied it after World War II. However, they did say in the Declaration of Moscow in 1943 that Austria would be considered the first victim of Nazi aggression, meaning that it would be considered liberated and independent after the war, rather than an aggressor nation. The occupation ended in 1955 because Austria's Parliament passed a Declaration of Neutrality saying that it would be permanently neutral.

Oh, ja. Austria has no navy, because it's a landlocked country, so there's no need for its military to have one. It did have a naval squadron from 1958 to 2006, but that squadron went to the Federal Police since then. It definitely didn't have any U-Boats.

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That's a big difference between the German and Austrian militaries (if you're into snarking about Germany's warmongering past, that is): Since Austria has no navy, it has no U-Boats. It is definitely not the Wehrmacht.

As for the people in charge, the Constitution says that the Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Austria, currently Alexander Van der Bellen since January 26, 2017. In practice, the Chancellor has control of the military through the Minister of National Defence. Currently, the Chancellor is Sebastian Kurz since December 18, 2017, and the Minister of National Defence has been Mario Kunasek as of the same date.

Conscription

It's not like a draft lottery that the U.S. had during 'Nam, where they draw numbers and birthdates from drums. Basically, every male Austrian who turns 18 years old has to serve for 6 months on active duty then about 8 years in the reserves. However, if the Army says it's okay, an Austrian man can ask to serve 7 months on active duty and shorten up their reserve obligation, or they can ask to get it done with by doing 8 months of active duty with no reserve obligations. They can also ask to do one voluntary year, in that case they get about quadruple pay and can choose to join the special forces or military school or train other recruits for the second half of the year. If they choose the voluntary year they also have a reserve obligation. Austrians can join earlier than that but no earlier than 16 years old, though. That would be pushing the boundaries of the United Nations' Children in Armed Conflict Protocol and be a major concern of Western countries, especially if Austria signed that protocol.

For the time being, males who get the draft notice but are conscientious objectors can serve nine months in civilian service (German Zivildienst) instead, which has been in effect since 1975. It requires that males be complete pacifists and confirm that no matter what, they wouldn't pick up a weapon and kill somebody with it, not even if their girlfriend was getting raped in the woods. If approved, that conscientious objector can serve in one of many different non-government organizations, with the emergency medical services, nursing homes, hospitals, charitable organizations, or in several ministries, so they can still serve their country without having to kill somebody (no worries about the girlfriend in the woods being raped).

Equipment and Uniforms

The standard-issue service rifle in the Bundesheer is the Steyr AUG (StG 77 or Sturmgewehr 77), a bullpup 5.56mm assault rifle that was designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG, a firearms manufacturer based in Steyr, Upper Austria, Austria. (The company used to be called Steyr-Daimler-Puch.) Austria adopted the Steyr AUG in 1977, and its military has been using it since along with the...

Glock 17 (Pistole 80) sidearm - main service pistol

FN FAL (StG 58) service rifle, used as ceremonial weapon by Austrian Guard Company

It was notorious for having the Swedish SAAB Draken jet fighter in service from roughly 1987 to 2005 — "notorious" because it was old. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 said the Air Force couldn't have any air-to-air missiles (which gave the Austrian version of the Draken the dubious distinction of being the last fighter aircraft with an all-gun air-to-air armament), but dropped that restriction in 1993 because of the Yugoslavian Wars violating their airspace. In 2005, the country got itself some nice modern Eurofighters. (It has been a joke that they couldn't start, turn around, and land again without violating foreign airspace, but it's not actually true.)

Uniforms and Ranks

Uniforms

The service uniform, which would be the "cammies", is olive drab. The dress uniform, which would be like a business suit, is grey. For formal occasions, such as dinners and whatnot, there is a white uniform. The air force uniform is just alike but has wings worn on the right jacket breastgold for officers and silver for enlisted personnel.

Branches of service are identified by beret colors:

scarlet - honour Guard

green - infantry

black - armor

cherry - air force

dark blue - quartermaster

Insignia of rank are worn on the jacket lapel of the dress uniform (silver stars on a green or gold shield) and on the epaulets of the field uniform (white, silver or gold stars on a olive drab field).

Ranks

Here's a breakdown of the rank of officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted (NATO Codes are in brackets):

Commissioned Officers (Offiziere):

General (Gen) - "General" [OF-9]

Generalleutnant (GenLt) - "Lieutenant General" [OF-8]

Generalmajor (GenMjr) - "Major General" [OF-7]

Brigadier (Bgdr) - "Brigadier General" [OF-6]

Oberst (Obst) - "Colonel" [OF-5]

Oberstleutnant (Obstlt) - "Lieutenant Colonel" [OF-4]

Major (Mjr) - "Major" [OF-3]

Hauptmann (Hptm) - "Captain" [OF-2]

Oberleutnant (Olt) - "First Lieutenant" [OF-1]

Leutnant (Lt) - "Second Lieutenant" [OF-1]

Fähnrich (Fhr) - "Officer Cadet" [OF-D]

Non-Commissioned Officers (Unteroffiziere):

Vizeleutnant (Vzlt) - "Warrant Officer I" [OR-9]

Offiziersstellvertreter (OStv) - "Warrant Officer II" [OR-9]

Oberstabswachtmeister (OStWm) - "Warrant Officer III" [OR-8]

Stabswachtmeister (StWm) - "Staff Sergeant" [OR-7]

Oberwachtmeister (OWm) - "Master Sergeant" [OR-6]

Wachtmeister (Wm) - "Sergeant" [OR-5]

Enlisted With Rank (Chargen):

Zugsführer (Zgf) - "Master Corporal" [OR-4]

Korporal (Kpl) - "Corporal" [OR-3]

Gefreiter (Gfr) - "Lance Corporal" [OR-2]

Enlisted Without Rank (Rekrut):

Rekrut (Rekr) - "Private" [OR-1]

A Few Interesting Facts:

Arnold Schwarzenegger served in 1965 to do the one-year of mandatory service required at the time of all Austrian adult men. He did go AWOL during basic training to participate in the Junior Mr. Europe contest, earning a week in the brig. (Jesse Ventura once said on Larry King Live that he doesn't support Ahnold running for U.S. President, even if he could legally run with the removal or repeal of the natural-born citizen requirement for the office. Why? Because when Arnold served, he had to take an oath of allegiance to Austria. Read here for the transcript.)

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